Self-feeding, mouth-controlled eating device



Jan. 11, 1966 GRATZER 3,228,536

SELF-FEEDING, MOUTH-CONTROLLED EATING DEVICE Filed Nov. 1, 1963 5Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG 1 EAT IN PEACE l 1 I I 1 I a l FIG.2

I N VEN TOR.

Anml Gratzer FIG. 3

Jan. 11, 1966 GRATZER 3,228,536

SELF-FEEDING, MOUTH-CONTROLLED EATING DEVICE Filed Nov. 1, 1963 5Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllllllllm FIG.4-

INVENTOR. Anrcll Grorzer A. GRATZER 3,228,536

SELF-FEEDING, MOUTH-CONTROLLED EATING DEVICE Jan. 11, 1966 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 1, 1963 INVENTOR. Anrol G rmzer Jan. 11, 1966GRATZER 3,228,536

SELF-FEEDING, MOUTH-CONTROLLED EATING DEVICE Filed Nov. 1, 1963 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Anrol Grarzer A. GRATZER 3,

SELF-FEEDING, MOUTH-CONTROLLED EATING DEVICE Jan. 11, 1966 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed NOV. 1, 1963 INVENTOR. G rofzer Anrol United StatesPatent 3,228,536 SELF-FEEDING, MOUTH-CONTROLLED EATING DEVICE AntalGratzer, 915 W. Diversey Parkway, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Nov. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 320,743 8 (Ilaims. (Cl. 214-1) Thisinvention relates to a self-feeding mouth-controlled rotatable eatingdish combination, which consists of different types of dishes sodesigned that they allow the consumption of various types of liquid andsolid foods solely by graduated mouth control and which can be placed orremoved, in the order desired, on a horizontally rotatable tray whichcan be displaced vertically on its screw axis and which is mounted on afirm base.

Mechanization of life, revolutions, wars, and natural catastrophes,earthquakes, tornadoes and fire disasters have increased the number ofthe handicapped of whom many are unable to eat because of the lack ofarms, paralysis or lack of eyesight. Beyond these there are many whobecome paralyzed or incapacitatingly tremulous and unable to controltheir motions due to some illness. The families or relatives, hospitals,nursing homes or other institutions are faced with the daily problem offeeding these individuals. No matter with how much love andconsideration they feed them, the situation leads to a strained mood,impatience, never-ending burden and lethargy after a while. Thehandicapped themselves become depressed and the burden of completedependency and helplessness weighs heavily upon them.

So far mechanical or electrical mobilization of the paralyzed limbs hasbeen used to enable the handicapped to feed himself. These mechanismshave to be tailor made for the individual, they require specialtraining, often also the help of another person to put them on; theyhave to be altered constantly in case of a growing child. Even ifproficiency in using a device is the ultimate solution, if recovery canbe achieved or self sulficiency can be regained by re-education, as inthe case of the blind, delay and a frustrating training period ofcomplete dependency in eating has so far not been avoided.

The Gratzer style self-feeding eating dish combination serves manypurposes. First, it enables the handicapped to eat by himself withouthaving to be trained and without the aid of another person, according tohis own pace; if he at least can move his head, can bite, chew, swallowand drink. He can see the food and beverage and eat with pleasure. Hedoes not spill anything with fumbling, so he can eat without any strainwith his family or in company, because he does not need help fromanyone, nor does he have to concentrate greatly on his eating technique.Since a whole menu can be placed on the eating dishes, the handicappedcan consume a complete dinner without even asking for a glass of water.Second, it cuts down the burden of those who take care of thehandicapped because they do not have to feed them. The completebreakfast, lunch or dinner can be served at once in the various dishesand when the handicapped finished eating, the eating dish combinationcan be removed as a unit. Then the dishes can be removed separately,washed and sterilized if needed. Third, the hospitals and institutionscan cut down the time and cost involved in feeding the handicapped.After the food has been served in the eating dish combination, thepatient does not have to be attended to until the end of the meal.Although, the design and the firm base insures stability of therotatable tray and the dishes upon it, the base can be clamped on thesupporting surface with any ordinary clamp, if the handicapped exhibitsunwanted motion. Fourth, it makes the life of the handicapped more bear-"ice able, his mood and general attitude improves and at the same timethe nursing staff is relieved of one of the hardest responsibilities.

The self-feeding rotatable eating dish combination was designed withsimplicity and ease of manufacture as well as upkeep in mind. It is madeout of light metal or synthetic material, e.g., plastic, which isrustfree and easily washable and relatively unbreakable. As with anymechanical motion, there exists the possibility of motorizing some ofthe motions necessary for eating with this device. The need for this,however is rarer and would have to be designed for and adapted to theindividual case.

The name of the self-feeding eating dish combination is Eat in Peace,conveying the motto of the Gratzer system, to eat in peace andundisturbed, to be self-sufficient and independent in eating even if oneis severely handicapped.

The Eat in Peace and its various parts and components are illustrated inthe following figures, which serve to convey the basic concepts of theinvention, the embodiment of which can be varied and is not limited tothe present illustration.

FIGURE 1 shows the rotatable tray with its dish-holding plate on thecentral screw axis which has a handle on the top and rests on a fixedbase on the bottom.

FIGURE 2 shows the tray with the dishes from above.

FIGURES 3, 4, 5 show the dish with the food pusher from above, from theside, and from the front respectively.

FIGURES 6, 7, 8 show a dish with three compartments and three foodpushers, one for each.

FIGURES 9, 10, 11 show an example of a sandwich or one piece solid fooddish with an adjustable resilient three-pronged fork clamp, from above,from the side and from front.

FIGURES 12, 13, 14 show an example of a drinking cup, which can betilted under a bottle holder, from above, from the side and from thefront.

FIGURES 15, 16, 17, 18 show an example of a twinspooned eating cup fromthe back and from the side, and the twin-spoon from the top.

FIGURES 19, 20, 21 show an example of twincup arrangement from above,from the side and from front.

FIGURES 22, 23 show the twincup arrangement in the tilted position fromthe front and from the side.

FIGURES 24, 25 show an example of a napkin holder, used also as a trayrotator, from above and from the side.

Referring to FIGURE 1, one can see the round tray 1 which can also besquare. In the center of the tray and parallel to it is a round orsquare splate 4, which serves to hold the dishes. This holding plate 4and the tray 1 are held firmly together on a strong vertical screw 2,which goes through their center. The screw is mounted on a plate 3 whichcan be placed on the table or supporting surface. The tray 1 with theholding plate 4 can be raised or lowered on the screw so that it gets tobe level with the mouth of the handicapped. The holding plate 4 for thedishes has vertical slits 5 in certain positions so that the differentdishes for food and beverages 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 can be secured on it bytheir holding hooks 7 by pushing them through the holding plate. SeeFIG- URE 2. The tray 1, the holding plate 4, and the screw 2 constitutea fixed part, so that they raise together or lower together on rotationin order that the dishes containing the food get to be on a level withthe mouth. The screw which constitutes the common axis 2 has a handle 8on top with which the tray with the dishes and food can be transportedand placed on the table.

The dishes as seen in FIGURES 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

'the open end pointing backwards.

3 can be placed on the tray with one motion by sliding the lower edge oftheir holding hook 7 into one of the slots 5 of the holding plateaccording to the desired eating sequence. The dishes are held in a fixedposition on the tray by their holding hooks. They cannot slide forward,backward or sideways, they rotate together with the tray and are levelwith the mouth.

The figures starting with FIGURE 3 show examples of several types ofdishes for foods and beverages which can be arranged at will on the trayand are adapted to be used by mouth control.

For instance for solid food the dish with the food pusher is illustratedin FIGURES 3, 4, 5. One can put out meat, diced potatoes, peas, beans,etc. in it. This is an oblong rectangular dish which has no side infront of the mouth, and no top. In front there is an oval shaped cut inthe free edge of the bottom side so that one can approximate the foodbetter with ones mouth. In front and below the oval cut is a horizontalpusher 16 which when pushed with the mouth slides under the dish untilthe edge of the dish is reached with ones mouth. This pusher 16 narrowsinto a longer rod which continues under the dish and goes through theholding hook 7 which holds the dish. Thereby the rod is guided well whenit is sliding backward or forward. The back end of the rod is smallerand thinner and goes into the hole in the lower thin edge 17b of thelever 17. The lever 17 stands in its own separate slot in the holdingplate 4 with its large end below and its small thinned out plate-shapedend above. On the top of the lever parallel to the long axis of the dishthere is a slot 17a with a backward slanted cut which serves as thepushing tooth of the lever by engaging with the toothed rod and pushingit and its attached pushplate forward in the dish, The pushplate, whichis as wide as the inside of the dish, then pushes the food ahead of ittowards and into the open mouth. When one takes the mouth away from thepusher 16 then the lever pushes it back to its original position by itsweight. It does not pull the toothed rod 15 and its food pushplate 14back, because the teeth are in the opposite direction and they slideover the tooth slot of the lever 170. Therefore the eater controls theamount of the food which is pushed into his mouth according to the sizeof bite he wants to take. If there is still food remaining at the edgeof the dish, it will not fall down, because the pushplate will go backto its original position and catches it. The forward and backwardtilting of the lever can also be regulated by a spring.

Variety can be obtained if one can eat two side dishes with the meatsimultaneously without having to rotate the tray further thereby gainingadditional comfort and ease. One can do this with the following simplecomposite food pushing dish as can be seen in FIGURES 6, 7, 8. Using thedish with the food pusher as a unit, the variation consists only of thewidening of the dish and putting in three or morecompartments'lengthwise each having its separately operated food pusherdevice, 14, 15, 16, 17. The food that gets into the mouth is determinedby which lever under which compartment is being pushed, e.g. potatoes,meat, vegetables, according to taste.

For serving uncut solid foods such as bread, cakes or sandwiches, oneuses the dish with the sandwich holder, as is to be seen in FIGURES 10,9, 11. This dish resembles the dish with the food pusher in its size andform, has therefore the open side towards the mouth; except on this dishthere is the sandwich holder 18, 19. The holding hook 7a of the sandwichholding dish protrudes above the backside of the dish and serves asguide and support for the resilient fork plate. For this the guide isvery flat and U-shaped in cross section with The free end of thehairpin-shaped resilient plate 18 is slid into the guide.

. The other end of the resilient platecomes down vertically into thedish and on it are attached horizontally three or possibly more rods 19which are parallel to the long axis of the dish and have rounded tips.These rods which are put together in a fork shape and the resilientplate 18 constitute the three-pronged fork clamp which can be pushed upor down in the guide 7a. If the fork clamp is being pushed down into thedish on to the slice of cake or sandwich, the latter cannot slide out ofthe dish. In order to eat the sandwich, etc., one turns the tray 1 withones lips or chin far enough so that the sandwich holding dish gets infront of ones mouth. One takes the end of the sandwich which protrudesover the edge into ones mouth, pulls it out further and bites off apiece, leaving enough so the left end can be reached and pulled out forthe next bite. The fork clamp with the round tips holds the sandwichfirmly up to the last bite.

In order to serve beverages one uses a tilting cup, FIGURES 13, 14, 12with the following description. Into the slot 5 of the holding plate 4is placed a holding hook 20 which is tilted or slanted down towards themouth and protrudes above the level of the other dishes. The top part ofthe holding hook bends downward forming an inverted U and on its endthere is a conical funnel 21. A separate axle 22 protrudes right andleft from the lower outer end of the funnel, On these axles the tiltingcup 23 is being hung by its upper sides. One puts a bottle containingwater, milk or other beverage with its mouth open downward into thefunnel 21. Now the liquid flows into the tilting cup below, until theliquid level reaches the fluid in the bottle. The air pressure keeps therest of the liquid in the bottle. If one tilts the cup 23 downward withones month, one can drink as much as one wants. The liquid automaticallykeeps flowing from the bottle as long as the liquid level is lowerin thecup than in the bottle. One can put ioe into the tilting cup in order toget an ice cooled beverage. Of course the cup can be used without abottle as well. In that case the beverage coffee, milk, juice, etc. ispoured into the cup directly and can be drunk again by tilting the cupinto the mouth, thus consuming even the last drop.

FIGURES 15, 16, 17, 18 illustrate the soup cup in the side, top and backview, as well as the twinspoon in the dish and also separately 25. Thesoup cup can be a half elliptical or oblong in its cross section. On theback of the soup cup there is the downwardly slanted holding hook 7. Onthe front side of the soup cup there is the twinspoon which is fastenedinto a hole in its side. The twinspoon 25 is composed of a V, U, orhalf-circular shaped handle 26 on cross section which has on either enda spoonhead and a holding hook in the center 24-. The back spoonhead ofthe twinspoon is in the soup cup, therefore in the soup. The frontspoonhead stands out and can be reached by the mouth.

If one takes the front spoonhead into ones mouth and pushes it downward,the back end with its spoonhead and with the soup is raised above thefront spoonhead and the soup with its contents flows into the frontspoonhead and into ones mouth. The spoon can be moved in any directionwith ones mouth, therefore not only the soup but also its contents canbe taken out of the soup cup and eaten. If one lets go of the spoon italways tilts back into the cup because of the gravity distribution. Theback spoonhead in the cup is smaller than the front spoonhead for themouth and the trough like handle is large enough so that the soup isnever spilled. It is obvious that this dish is not limited to soupconsumption and that any substance which can flow, glide or slide downinto the twinspoon can be eaten.

FIGURES .19, 20, 21, 22, 23 shows a double cup arrangement for servingice cream for instance. The larger lower cup 29 has a holding hook 7 sothat it can be hooked firmly onto the holding plate. Attached to itsfront there is a double V-shaped tilting arm 28. Between the two limbsof the V a smaller half globe or square-shaped cup is hanging on twohorizontal axes. Into this cup 27 one can put ice cream, candy, etc. Onepushes the protruding end of the lever arm 30, which is connected withthe double tilting arm 28, now the smaller cup- 27 is raised out of thelarger cup and is tilted into position in front of ones mouth. Since thesmall cup is always in a horizontal position and does not tip due to itsown Weight one can lick the ice cream out of it. When one pushes thesmaller cup it again tilts back into position above the large cup inwhich one has placed ice cubes to prevent melting.

Finally FIGURES 24, 25 show the napkin holder. This is needed for tworeasons. First that the eater can keep his mouth clean and second thathe can rotate the tray easier with the holders and thereby reach thedish he wants to eat out of or drink out of. The sample illustrationshows one possible shape of the napkin holder on its holding hook. Thisof course can be varied.

As can be seen from the description, the daily use of the self-feedingeating dish combination for the handicapped is easy and simple. Whoeverprepares or serves the food, breakfast, lunch, supper or snack arrangesand places it on the tray accordingly. One can use two of the same typeof dish according to the menu. One places the foods and beverages intothe dishes and can place the Whole eating dish combination in front ofthe handicapped transporting it with the handle on the screw. Then oneadjusts it so that the tray is level with the eaters mouth. The eaterdoes not have to learn how to eat with the device because it is so easyand simple and self evident, that he can eat with it on the firstattempt with his family or company. All he has to do is chew, bite,drink, and turn, because the food and drinks are directly in front ofhis mouth. It also has the advantage that whoever takes care of thehandicapped can prepare the tray ahead of time and does not have to beon time for the feeding. Water, cake, fruit can be kept on the tray forthe handicapped. The care of the eating dish combination, its assembly,washing, etc., is simple. The benefits obtained for both the handicappedand those who take care of him are such that the Eat in Peace is ofvalue even for temporary disabled.

Keeping in mind that the foregoing description and illustration of theself-feeding mouth-controlled eating dish combination for thehandicapped is only one example of its possible embodiment, thefollowing innovations and underlying principles are claimed:

1. In a self-feeding, mouth-controlled, rotatable, variable eating dishcombination for use by human beings who cannot use their hands properly;the improvement comprising a horizontally disposed tray withconcentrically disposed holding means attached thereto having means tohold a plurality of dishes in position, means mounting said tray andholding means for rotational and vertical movement to mouth level of theuser, a solid food server mounted on said holding means, said servercomprising a dish with a food pusher mounted to move therein, said dishhaving an outwardly facing open side, actuator means extending from theopen side of the dish to its opposite side, lever means located on theholding means adjacent to said opposite side of the dish and operativelyconnected with said actuator means, said lever means having tooth means,a toothed bar attached to and extending from said pusher and engagingsaid tooth means on said lever means, said actuator means, lever meansand toothed bar being so arranged that each movement of the actuatormeans causes the lever means to step the toothed bar and the attachedpusher a predetermined distance toward the open side of the dish.

2. The invention according to claim 1 and said lever means having anupper end with a slanted toothed opening receiving said toothed bar, andmeans for biasing the toothed bar to engaged position with the levermeans in said opening.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and a dish mounted on saidholding means for serving larger sized solid food such as sandwiches andthe like, said last-mentioned dish containing a resiliently mounted forkand being hairpin shaped, a U-shaped guide on the holding means mountingsaid last-mentioned dish, said guide means accommodating verticaladjustment of the second plate.

4. The invention according to claim 1 and a dish for serving liquid,semisolid or wet foods comprising a cuplike structure, and a twin spoonhaving an elongated connector with a spoon at each end, means pivotingthe twin spoon at its connector to said cuplike structure at its outerside, said connector being formed to guide the food from one spoon tothe other.

5. The invention according to claim 1 and a drinking cup having meansfor mounting at one end on the holding means and having a funnel on theother end with means for receiving a bottle or the like therein, andmeans suspending the cup on a horizontal axis for tilting toward themouth of the user.

6. The invention according to claim 1 and comprising a double cuparrangement including a larger lower cup for holding ice cubes and thelike and a smaller food cup for holding ice cream or the like, meanshanging the smaller cup above the lower cup, and arm means connected tothe smaller cup and extending to a position which may be reached by headportions of the user to tilt the same where by the contents areavailable for eating by the user.

7. The invention according to claim 1 and said tray having napkinholders about its periphery, said napkin holders being positioned forgrasping engagement by the mouth of the user to rotate the tray.

8. The invention according to claim 1 and napkin holders releasablyattached to the tray for positioning various optional distance about thetray in position for grasping engagement by the user with his mouth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 409,439 7/1889Whitney 24840S X 1,343,606 6/1920 Young 214-1 1,542,569 6/1925 Mondi2141 1,933,275 10/1933 Melucci 2141 2,686,408 8/1954 Walker 2141 MARVINA. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A SELF-FEEDING, MOUTH-CONTROLLED, ROTATABLE, VARIABLE EATING DISHCOMBINATION FOR USE BY HUMAN BEINGS WHO CANNOT USE THEIR HANDS PROPERLY;THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED TRAY WITHCONCENTRICALLY DISPOSED HOLDING MEANS ATTACHED THERETO HAVING MEANS TOHOLD A PLURALITY OF DISHED IN POSITION, MEANS MOUNTING SAID TRAY ANDHOLDING MEANS FOR ROTATIONAL AND VERTICAL MOVEMENT TO MOUTH LEVEL OF THEUSER, A SOLID FOOD SERVER MOUNTED ON SAID HOLDING MEANS, SAID SERVERCOMPRISING A DISH WITH A FOOD PUSHER MOUNTED TO MOVE THEREIN, SAID DISHHAVING AN OUTWARDLY FACING OPEN SIDE, ACTUATOR MEANS EXTENDING FROM THEOPEN SIDE OF THE DISH TO ITS OPPOSITE SIDE, LEVER MEANS LOCATED ON THEHOLDING MEANS ADJACENT TO